UCLA rolls over listless Washington State

LOS ANGELES – The question through much of UCLA's 78-46 romp over Washington State on Thursday night was who was going to show up first?

The Sports Arena "crowd" or the Cougars?

Neither ended up making it on a night when the Bruins' domination of both ends of the court would have been even more impressive had Washington State's effort not been as empty as the Sports Arena.

UCLA (17-13, 10-7 Pac-12) held the Cougars to 34.7 percent shooting from the field — 31.8 in the opening half — and converted 13 WSU turnovers into 22-4 points-off- turnovers advantage.

Washington State's effort was so nonexistent the Cougars committed just six fouls. The crowd numbers were just as paltry, a maybe quarter-full venue generously credited with 5,099. Afterward, Washington State was at a loss to explain its no-show.

"We came out with no intensity," WSU forward Brock Motum said. "We played bad 'D.'"

The Bruins' absent fans were no doubt at home catching up on their reading.

What was arguably UCLA's most complete game of a disappointing season was in marked contrast to a day earlier when UCLA officials and Coach Ben Howland scrambled to respond to a Sports Illustrated feature in which players and staff members from recent UCLA basketball teams said Howland's failure to control an influx of talented but disruptive players undermined discipline and morale within the program.

A day later, Howland and Bruins declined to portray the triumph as cleansing or a response to the story.

"The thing for us now is to move forward with this season," Howland said. "...We weren't looking at this as a statement win. I think we were trying to make a statement that we're a good team and we're disappointed about losing at Arizona last Saturday."

In reality, UCLA has a lot more to explain than just the Sports Illustrated story. The Bruins began the season as Pac-12 favorites but go into Saturday's regular season finale with Washington sixth in a conference with a collective power rating lower than the Atlantic 10. Thursday's victory likely will only fuel thoughts of what might have been in Westwood.

Howland was right that if UCLA was looking to make amends it was for the Bruins' latest road disaster, at Arizona. Having already blown double-digit leads at Oregon and Washington, UCLA had a near collapse in the closing moments in Tucson.

UCLA guard Lazeric Jones, held to two points in the loss at Arizona, scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the opening half. Sophomore guard Tyler Lamb, who made critical mental errors down the stretch against the Wildcats, added 16 points, five assists and two steals. UCLA point guard Jerime Anderson dished out nine assists with just three turnovers.

"UCLA played an inspired and energetic game tonight," WSU coach Ken Bone said. "They were active, they were physical, just really tenacious and we did not really fight back."